Northwest History Network

A non-profit consortium of regional historians, archivists, librarians, and other professionals

We’re very pleased to announce the results of the fourth cycle of the Northwest History Network’s microfunding program. We received a total of 10 proposals this year, which were reviewed by a committee of six professionals. The NHN Board has approved funding for four proposals that earned enthusiastic support from our reviewers:

Project: “Neverbuilt Portland Exhibit”

Project Director: Bryce Henry

The $250 award will be used to purchase exhibit furniture to support a 2017 traveling exhibit documenting an alternate history of Portland, Oregon, utilizing archival collections. The exhibit will focus on construction projects that were either never executed or were completed in a significantly different manner.

The $250 award will be used for the publishing costs of the second volume of the 10-part comic series called Oregon History Comics (OHC). The series will focus on lesser known and marginalized Oregon histories, including the Japanese internment and the Indian Termination Act of 1953. The box set of 10 comics will present histories in an exciting and accessible format.

Project: “Upgrading to Past Perfect Museum Software 5.0”

Organization: Gordon House Conservancy

Project Director: Molly Murphy

The $250 award will be used to purchase Past Perfect Museum Software 5.0 and multimedia module. The Gordon House is the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed building in Oregon, and the museum needs improved computer software to catalogue and provide public access to information and images of the house structural parts and its collections.

Project: “Commemorating Woolworth’s History in Downtown Renton”

Organization: Renton History Museum

Project Director: Elizabeth P. Stewart

The $250 award will be used to fund the creation of a panel exhibit and streetscape timeline that will be displayed during and after an event to commemorate the history of the Woolworth’s building in downtown Renton. The building opened in 1954 and quickly became the center of Downtown Renton’s thriving postwar shopping hub, and it was recently listed on the National Register.

The NHN Board hopes to continue the microfunding program in the future, and please email nhn-board@googlegroups.com if you have suggestions about the program or would like to help out.